- Home
-
Who We Are
- History The establishment of Curious Minds as an independant Company Limited by Guarantee and Registered Charity.
-
What We Do
- Arts Award A national qualification that supports young people to develop as artists and arts leaders.
- Big Art The Channel 4 Big Art Project aimed to inspire communities and create a unique peice of public art in Burnley.
- Creative Partnerships The flagship creative learning programme designed to raise the aspirations, achievements and skills of children and young people.
- Find your talent The pilot cultural offer programme that ensures young people have access to the wide range of cultural experiences they deserve.
- Building Schools for the Future Supporting schools on ambitious programmes of change founded on creative teaching and learning.
- Curious Project 6 Engaging young people in the regeneration & renewal of their community
- Prevent An innovative project that explores what extremism and the Prevent agenda means to young people and their schools.
-
Resources
- Case Studies An online database of case studies from the Curious Minds’ programmes.
- Logo downloads Download funding logos related to Curious Minds and the programmes that are delivered.
-
Community & Ideas
- Register Register to access the private resources, receive the e-newsletter and join the community forums.
- Forum Join in with discussions that are important to you to get your voice heard.
- Blog Read the blog from the Chief Executive of Curious Minds, Chris May.
-
Contact
- Staff Meet the team who work for Curious Minds.
- Board of Trustees Find out who’s who on our Board of Trustees
- Map and Directions Access the map and directions to our offices in Burnley and Liverpool.
- Work With Us Find out how to get involved if you are interested in working for Curious Minds.
Robert Wand
Chair of the board of trustees – appointed 17th December 2008
Robert was until December 2005 the Director of Lifelong Learning and Cultural Services for Lancashire County Council, having previously worked in Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. That remit covered not just the Cultural Services block but included the Youth Service, Adult Education, the development of Early Years Education and Childrens' Centres. Whilst working for Lancashire and Cambridgeshire he chaired a number of regional and national committees, particularly relating to public libraries, and served on several panels for the Arts Council both in East Anglia and the North West. Until the recent abolition of the Regional Agencies of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) Robert was Chair of MLA North West and remains a national Board Member. He is a Trustee of the Storey Gallery, Lancaster and a member of the Lancashire Local Strategic Partnership.
Mebz Bobat
Trustee – appointed 20th February 2009
Mebz Bobat works for Blackburn with Darwen Children’s Services as a Head of Service within the School and Learning Development Division. He has overall responsibility for many areas of provision including school sports, music and arts, healthy schools, extending schools, citizenship and anti bullying. He is also a member of the executive group of the North West arts learning consortium and until recently was a member of the Lancashire Sports Partnership Board.
He states that one of his aims is to provide as varied a menu of opportunities as possible for the children and young people in the borough and culture is one area that he is keen to support through direct delivery to children and young people and through providing support and encouragement to schools to continue to offer these experiences. One of the memories of primary school that stand out for Mebz is playing the part of “Happy” in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This and other similar experiences have contributed to his development and he wants the children and young people to be able to feel the same way.
Katy McCormick
Trustee – appointed 20th February 2009
Katy McCormick is Communications Director for Elevate East Lancashire where she is responsible for all corporate communications, media relations and community engagement. She also leads on the brand promotion and marketing for the Pennine Lancashire area, on behalf of the seven Pennine Lancashire local authorities.
An American, Katy came to the UK from New York in 1990 and worked in marketing and communication for arts organisations, local authorities and housing associations before moving to Elevate in 2003. Katy's first job was writing an advice column for her local newspaper at the age of 10. After university, she worked as a journalist for a group of weekly newspapers and then with a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. She went on to make a career in New York in film and TV production before moving to the UK.
In England, she managed the marketing for the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and the Boddington’s Manchester Festival before moving over to local authority leisure marketing. While working for Oldham and Sefton MBCs she developed an interest in housing, which led to a job as Group Marketing Manager for Progress Housing Group prior to joining Elevate.
Katy is a member of the Institute of Public Relations, a graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University, and a keen follower of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. She has a son, Bill, who is 13.
Stephan Heaton
Trustee – appointed 25th March 2010
Stephen is the Executive Director for Finance at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Stephan joined the Liverpool Philharmonic as Finance Director in February 2008. After training as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, he specialised in forensic accounting, working on a multitude of financial disputes from breach of competition law, white collar crime to fatal accident claims.
Following leaving the profession, Stephan held senior finance positions including Financial Controller of Tepnel Life Sciences plc, an acquisitive Research & Development company, and more recently Financial Controller of Ascribe plc, a leading healthcare IT software provider.
Peter Garden
Trustee – appointed 25th September 2009
Peter is the Executive Director (Learning & Engagement) for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Peter joined the organisation in January 2008, having been the Regional Adviser: Culture, Children & Young People for MLA North West and Arts Council England, North West since March 2006.
Prior to working for MLA North West, Peter worked as both Music Programme Manager and subsequently Head of Programmes for children’s charity, 4Children. There, he was responsible for developing and leading national and regional projects to increase access to creative and cultural activities for children and families across England, with various partners including BBC Worldwide, Youth Music, Sport England and the Children’s Fund.
He has also worked for the music examination board, Rockschool Ltd, developing music and social inclusion programmes in schools and communities across London. As a freelance musician, Peter has performed and toured with bands (rock, pop, ska) and musical theatre in the UK and abroad.
Elaine Roberts
Trustee – appointed 25th September 2009
Elaine Roberts is Head of Arts Development at Lancashire County Council, where she leads a small specialist team which develops and invests in a range of countywide strategic initiatives. The Arts Development Service works with a wide range of creative and cultural organisations, as well as corporately and with other local authorities in order to
- develop a strategic approach to the support for cultural and creative activity
- collaborate with partners to support the development of a wide range of high quality creative activities
- ensure that the role of, and potential for contribution by, creative activities is included within wider planning processes
- strengthen the infrastructure for arts and cultural development through support for creative organisations and initiatives across Lancashire
- embed creative thinking and practice within core services.
Current initiatives include the development of a youth culture offer and 'New Cultural Journeys' a youth led creative programme linked to London 2012.
Elaine graduated with a degree in Fine Art and has a Diploma in Management. She joined Lancashire County Council in 1990, expecting to stay for about three years and has been there ever since. In that time the County Council's role within arts and cultural development has changed and expanded giving Elaine experience of a wide variety of creative practice and partnership working. Prior to joining LCC she worked for North West Arts Association, one of the predecessor organisations of Arts Council England NW.
